Top Stories

NAUGATUCK — Retired police K9 “Pete” received a final salute from police officers Wednesday afternoon at Beacon Valley Animal Hospital before he was euthanized after battling a prolonged illness.
The K-9 served the police force for seven years, from 2008 to 2013, “He was sick,...

WINSTED
Michael Pendell has jumped into Highland Lake every March for the last 11 years.
Saturday was a little cold for a day at the beach, but Pendell and more than 100 others took part in the annual Penguin Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut, an...

WOLCOTT -- The driver of a Honda CRV that rolled over and struck a utility pole on Woodtick Road Sunday night is expected to face charges, police said.
Police said Douglas Perry, 65, of Waterbury was driving north on Woodtick Road shortly before 8 p.m....

When an "anti-Sharia" rally and pro-Muslim counter protest clashed in front of the Silas Bronson Library in 2017, Raechel Guest, the library's executive director said she remembers seeing Zeqir Berisha right in the middle of it.
An elderly woman had approached, carrying a sign that...

TORRINGTON -- A 19-year-old city man previously accused of statutory rape has been additionally charged with possession of child pornography after receiving nude video images of his 15-year-old girlfriend, police allege.
Mark Schnyer, of Millard Street, was arrested in January on charges of second-degree sexual...

ROXBURY
Northwest Connecticut features many historic homes and vintage barns, but when the two are combined with expert precision and craftsmanship, it catches the eye of national television producers.
Roxbury resident Ed Cady has made a living doing what he loves: restoring old Connecticut barns and...

WATERBURY - A teenager was sentenced for his role in a robbery-gone-bad that led to the murder of a beloved grandmother who was helping to deliver Chinese food in the inner city.
Jar'viyan Williams was 16 when he was charged in connection with the 2016...

NAUGATUCK - A proposal to build an inpatient residential detoxification facility as part of the development of Parcel C has raised some eyebrows.
The facility would be part of the nearly 35,000-square-foot building under construction at 58 Maple St. The property is owned by developers...

TORRINGTON - A man who severely burned half of his body Friday at Torrington Towing was transferring fuel out of his boat at the time of the accident, according to preliminary findings from the city's fire marshal.
Francisco Rodriguez, 56, who was in fair condition...

WATERBURY - Gherdith Destra never painted a room before, never shopped for lighting or patched a nail hole in a wall.
But the 32-year-old Haiti native and her husband now have plenty of experience in home improvement, having performed the required 250 hours of "sweat...

FALLS VILLAGE - Lisa Blodgett took hold of a locket around her neck that held a photograph of her smiling son, Donald "DG" Blodgett.
"Life will never be the same," she said tearfully. "He was my beautiful boy."
With the loss of two Housatonic Valley Regional...

This Wednesday, Gov.-elect Ned Lamont will have to work with 30 area legislators. Most are veterans, while a handful of others are new to Hartford. These are the priorities of the eight area members of the Senate once they are sworn in.

PLAINVILLE, Conn. (AP) — The pilot of a small airplane has been killed in a crash near an airport in the central Connecticut town of Plainville.
There were no other passengers aboard when the plane crashed Thursday morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the Rutan Defiant...

NAUGATUCK — Three teens in a stolen black Mercedes SUV fled from police and crashed on North Main Street shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Minutes before, officers were conducting motor vehicle safety inspections on North Main Street near the Route 8 on-ramp when...

HARTFORD - Signs of a growing state economy and narrowing budget deficits bode well for Gov.-elect Ned Lamont and the next legislature - for the time being.
The incoming governor and General Assembly face many challenges in trying to right Connecticut economically and financially in...

WATERBURY - Two current and one former aldermen are criticizing the fact the city's Good Jobs Ordinance isn't being applied at the ongoing $15 million renovation of the former Howland Hughes Department Store.
The ordinance requires contractors working on large-scale city projects to make a...

HARWINTON - More than 250 years passed between the town's founding in 1737 and the installation of its first traffic light in 1990 at Route 118 and Birge Park Road. But Harwinton's days as a one-stoplight town are numbered: the state Department of Transportation...

CHESHIRE - A student at Cheshire High School has been charged after making threatening comments, according to an email Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Solan sent parents late Sunday.
The student was charged with first-degree threatening and will be incarcerated as the investigation continues, police said.
"There...

WATERBURY — An icy mix of snow and hail fell Wednesday night as gunfire erupted and police pursued a stolen white Kia from where the shots originated, eventually arresting four men.
Police say the gunman in the white Kia climbed from the car near Oak...

WATERBURY - State police say a city man drove a stolen car more than 100 mph on Route 8 Tuesday night during a police chase, then ran across the highway with a police dog on his trail after the car broke down.
A state police...

TORRINGTON - Southeast School faces an impending death sentence.
The City Council on Monday unanimously voted to authorize Mayor Elinor C. Carbone to award a contract to Standard Demolition Services of Trumbull for $248,290. The old neighborhood school, which was built in the 1930s, will...

WATERBURY - While the Korean War is often referred to as the "forgotten war," that wasn't the case Saturday when more than 50 people turned out on the city green to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the end of the war.
"It's about remembering and...

HARTFORD - Torrington Mayor Elinor C. Carbone pleaded a case to state lawmakers Wednesday to restore $1.6 million in state funding to offset tax losses due to the state-imposed cap on local car taxes.
Carbone and state Rep. Michelle L. Cook, D-Torrington, appealed to the...

TORRINGTON - A New York City man was ordered held on $2,500 Monday, accused of multiple counts of forgery for passing counterfeit $100 bills to pay for thousands of dollars worth of goods along the Route 202 corridor in September.
Police say Dale Baksh, 27,...

WATERBURY - Christina "Tina" Robinson, 26, was known for her outsized personality in the nightlife industry, gathering a huge following as a bartender at places like Stadium Sports Bar & Grille, Trio Bar & Grill and Steel Lounge.
Robinson died tragically in a head-on-collision in...

TORRINGTON - Charged with attempted murder last fall after shooting another man in the chest with a stolen pistol in Winsted, Rafael Santiago-Salazar was sentenced Friday in Superior Court to 12 years in prison.
The charge was reduced to first-degree assault as part of a...

BY ED DAIGNEAULT REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Those who know UConn legend Dee Rowe know him as one of the definitions of a good human being. He'll quickly tell you that Tony Hanson's falling into the same category drew Rowe in as much as Hanson's uncanny ability to...

WATERBURY -- State officials are pushing for a single, statewide, motor vehicle tax rate.
Lawmakers have forwarded two proposals so far this year. One would eliminate car taxes altogether, but cut back on other tax breaks.
The other would create a single, statewide, motor vehicle rate...

HARWINTON - Two months after the health department shut him down, restaurant owner Joe Furnari is back in the kitchen at the Landing Zone Grille.
Torrington Area Health District closed the Burlington Road eatery in December, after it failed two inspections in late 2017. The...

Plymouth Center School on Wednesday continued its Christmastime tradition of having first-graders walk to the post office on Main Street and mail their letters to Santa Claus. Plymouth Postmaster Brian Peterson and mail clerk Carol Martin assisted with the mailing process, and Plymouth police...

Bundle up for a “lantern tour” through the historic district of Litchfield and learn more about the homes and residents who lived there. Join the Litchfield Historical Society for this nighttime tour on Friday, Feb.[...]